If creativity is the answer, what's the question? What do we really want? What is creativity? How do we do it? Why do we value it? What happens when the imagination, always a personal delight, and the source of great art and invention, also becomes a main source of work, wealth and identity? What happens when 'Western' creativity comes up against 'Chinese' creativity? Our passion for creativity and innovation has radically altered our attitudes to learning and is changing how governments function. Should it also affect our response to the crises in jobs and debt? Fifteen years after the British government launched the idea of creative industries, many countries and cities have joined the 'creative rush'. John Howkins provides a global overview of these developments with an inside view of creativity and business in China based on his Shanghai research centre. He presents five ideas that are shaping the creative economy and what they mean for the future of London and Shanghai.